School Spotlight
Franklin & Marshall College
Speech Code Rating
This school has adopted the chicago statement for free speech.
College Life Manual: Student Code & Policies
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Policies on Tolerance, Respect, and Civility
Last updated: July 9, 2020Prohibited acts include, but are not limited to: Harassment. Abuse, threats, intimidation, assault, coercion and/or conduct, by physical, verbal, signed, written, photographic or electronic means, which unreasonably interferes with, threatens, or endangers any person. … Lewd or Indecent Behavior (or sponsorshi... Read MoreCollege Life Manual: Sexual Misconduct/Discrimination/Harassment Policy
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: July 9, 2020Sexual harassment is unwelcome sex or gender-based verbal, nonverbal or physical conduct that has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work or academic performance or that creates a humiliating, degrading, intimidating, hostile, or offensive working, educational, or living environme... Read MorePublic Demonstrations and Protests Policy
Speech Code Rating: Yellow
Speech Code Category: Protest and Demonstration Policies
Last updated: July 9, 2020Any individual or group seeking to protest at an event must register their request with the College at least 48 hours (or 72 hours if the event is to occur on a holiday or during a weekend) in advance of the event. One or more representatives for the individuals participating in the proposed demonstration must conta... Read MoreAcceptable Use Policy and User Agreement
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Internet Usage Policies
Last updated: July 9, 2020Any inappropriate email, as defined below, is prohibited. Users receiving such email should immediately contact the ITS Help Desk at 717-358-6789 or helpdesk@fandm.edu. In the case of serious risks or harm, users should contact the Office of Public Safety at 717-358-3939. Examples of the inappropriate use of electro... Read MoreCollege Life Manual: Student Rights, Freedoms, and Responsibilities
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Advertised Commitments to Free Expression
Last updated: July 9, 2020Franklin & Marshall College is a scholarly community whose aim is to create an environment for human learning. Toward this end, students and faculty working together in close relationship pursue not only knowledge but also wisdom. In their mutual devotion to intellectual discovery, each stimulates the other. The... Read MoreF&M Statement on Freedom of Expression
Speech Code Rating: Green
Speech Code Category: Advertised Commitments to Free Expression
Last updated: July 9, 2020Because Franklin & Marshall College is committed to the ideal of free and open inquiry in all matters, it extends to all members of the College community the broadest possible latitude to express themselves freely and to challenge the views of others. The College vigorously values the creation and maintenance o... Read More
Franklin & Marshall professor: Free-speech-friendly campuses start with education on speech codes and speech code reform
June 16, 2017
In a piece published in USA Today last Sunday, Franklin & Marshall College professor M. Alison Kibler argues that, as questions of free speech continue to arise on college campuses, students, faculty, and administrators must evaluate and revise college policies that regulate speech to meet First Amendment standards. FIRE agrees that working to eliminate restrictive… Read more
Leadership roundup: How college leaders are answering questions about free speech
April 25, 2017
Controversy around free speech on college campuses seems to only be escalating: Charles Murray’s disastrous visit to Middlebury College, the violent response to Milo Yiannopoulos’ visit to the University of California, Berkeley, the shutting down of Heather Mac Donald’s Claremont McKenna College event, and just last week, Berkeley’s attempt to shut down Ann Coulter’s visit… Read more
Franklin & Marshall students set example handling controversial speaker
March 14, 2017
Earlier this month, while all eyes were on Charles Murray’s disastrous visit to Middlebury College, you may have missed another speaker protested for his talk on a college campus. The protest this speaker encountered, however, led to a very different outcome. Flemming Rose sparked worldwide controversy when he commissioned and published cartoons of the prophet Muhammad… Read more
Franklin & Marshall Board of Trustees Approves Freedom of Expression Statement
February 16, 2017
This Valentine’s Day, while couples reaffirmed their commitment to one another, Franklin & Marshall College (F&M) reaffirmed its commitment to free speech. On Tuesday, the Pennsylvania college announced that its board of trustees had approved a “Statement on Freedom of Expression,” initially endorsed by F&M faculty last year. The statement is a modified version of… Read more
College Trustees Reject Free Speech Statement Approved by Franklin & Marshall Faculty
May 30, 2016
The good news is that the faculty adopted a version of the University of Chicago’s exemplary statement on campus free expression last semester. F&M becomes the 13th institution at which a faculty body or the administration itself has endorsed a version of the Chicago Statement since FIRE endorsed it in January of 2015 as the gold… Read more
Unjust Sexual Misconduct Policy at Franklin & Marshall College
May 16, 2011
We have been writing a lot lately about due process in campus sexual assault cases ever since the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued guidance last month instructing universities that, in order to comply with federal civil rights laws, university judiciaries must apply a "preponderance of the evidence" standard (roughly 51% proof)… Read more